Refrigerators are electric appliances to cool or freeze foodstuff in a refrigeration compartment and a freeze compartment by an evaporator and a heat-exchanger constituting a refrigeration cycle for supplying cool air or cold air.
Rather than the function of preserving foodstuff at a lower temperature, such refrigerators can make ice by using cold air at a temperature lower than a freezing temperature of water supplied to the freeze compartment. The ice may be dispensed in a state of an ice cube as it is or in a state of being crushed.
This ice dispensing function is performed by an icemaker exposed to cold air of the freeze compartment and an ice discharging device. The icemaker makes ice by using the cold air of the freeze compartment and the ice discharging device allows the ice made by the icemaker to discharge the ice in an ice cube shape or crushed shape selectively.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional ice discharging device. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional ice discharging device includes a case 10, an ice crushing unit 30, a motor 21, a shaft 22 and a transfer member 23. Ice supplied by an ice maker (not shown) is held in the case 10. The ice crushing unit 20 discharges the ice of the case 10 in ice cube or crushed shapes. The motor 21 drives the ice crushing unit 30 and the transfer member 23 is formed on the shaft 22 to transfer the ice of the case 10 to the ice crushing unit 30. The transfer member 23 has spiral wings having a predetermined section and it is formed along the circumference of the shaft 22.
An ice introduction opening 11 is provided at an upper portion of the case 10 and ice is introduced in the case 10 from an icemaker (not shown) through the opening 11. An ice discharge opening 12 is provided at a lower portion of the case 10 and the ice is discharged outside the case 10 through the ice discharge opening 12.
In such the conventional ice discharging device, the ice introduced through the ice introduction opening 11 is transferred toward the ice discharge opening 12 by the transfer member 23 rotating together with the rotation of the shaft 22. As a result, the ice may be discharged as it is (in this case, in an ice cube shape), or the ice is crushed by the ice crushing unit 30 and discharged (in this case, in a crushed ice shape).
FIGS. 2 and 3 are front views of the conventional ice discharging device illustrating the cases of discharging ice cube or crushed ice, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 2, if a user wishes crushed ice from the ice discharging device, the ice inside the case 10 is transferred to the ice discharge opening 12 by the transfer member 23 (see FIG. 1) and at this time a shutter 33 that is able to close some or entire portion of the ice discharge opening 12 is operated by a shutter driving unit 34 to close some portion of the ice discharge opening 12.
Hence, the transferred ice is not discharged through the ice discharge opening 12 and a rotary blade 32 of the ice crushing unit 30 rotates in a clockwise direction to move the ice toward a fixed blade 31. Hence, the ice is crushed by the interaction between the fixed blade 31 and the rotary blade 32 and the crushed ice is discharged through the ice discharge opening 12.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, if a user wishes an ice cube from the conventional ice discharging device, the ice inside the case 10 is transferred to the ice discharge opening 12 and the shutter driving unit 34 drives the shutter 33 to open the ice discharge opening 12 completely. Hence, the rotary blade 32 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction to push the ice with its no-blade portion and thus the ice cube is discharged through the ice discharge opening 12.